Ok. Please tell me this is a joke.... this youtube vid about the cheerleader

[Haole Girl]

If it's not it is very sad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mScGC7nFDxM&feature=popular

[Haole Girl]

1. Well, I found another vid about the same thing

But I'm still skeptical.

:shrug:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_9SU6vM_BA&feature=rec-HM-r2

[Haole Girl]

2. Oh man...

I am thinking this is real. :-(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VMRWLgF8V8

[JVS]

3. Wow. How sad.

[hedgehog]

4. There is some controversy about this. We jumped all over

Senator Frist for diagnosing Terry Schiavo long distance, but there are reports that a Dr. Leigh Vinocur from the University of Maryland quotes Dr. William J. Weiner as using this footage to teach students the difference between true dystonia and psychosomatic dystonia. I can not find a direct quote from Dr. Weiner, but he appears to be an expert in the field of dystonia. If Dr. Weiner is correct, it doesn't mean the cheerleader is faking, it means that she has a real illness caused by something other than the flu shot.

[LeftyFingerPop]

5. We should all keep in mind...

That probably every pharmaceutical that ever existed has the potential of causing adverse reactions in someone, somewhere...ranging from a mild rash to death.

It's all a numbers game, and the odds are usually extremely good that nothing will happen to you.

[MajorChode]

6. At best it's misinformation, at worst it's a hoax

First of all, assuming it's not a hoax, this woman already had the disease and they are alleging the flu shot was the trigger. The CDC has said they have no known cases linking seasonal flu shots to dystonia. So even if the flu shot actually was the trigger, it's more like 1 in 6.8 billion rather than 1 in a million as reported. Dystonia can be triggered by infection, so it's also possible that the flu itself can trigger it, and if the flu is more likely to trigger it, even those with a genetic predisposition to the disease could potentially benefit from getting a flu shot.